Page 135 of Love is a Game

Before it’s too late?

Can I overcome my doubts before the person I love the most finally gives up on me?

A flicker of movement draws my eye—a flash of mustard yellow flitting between the branches. Then another. Two Black-throated Green Warblers dart through the trees, their bright faces like tiny bursts of sunlight against the deep green canopy.

One perches on a low branch, tilting its head, throat dark as ink, breast streaked with black. The other follows, wings flickering—restless, always on the edge of flight.

Migrants. Travelers. Always leaving, always returning.

I watch them for a long moment, their song threading through the quiet.

And when I return to my car, driving toward Blue Mountain Lake, I think about how much time I’ve spent trying to escape this place. Believing I could only find myselfelsewhere.But maybe, like those little birds, I could return—on my own terms.

Then my heart constricts. The city isn’t just my career, my lifestyle. It’s also where Tuck is. And how much more can I ask of him? To upend his life, too?

Maybe he’d consider it.Maybe.If I wasn’t such a risky investment. After all, Tuck thinks in terms of contracts and negotiations. He’s a strategist, a numbers guy, someone who doesn’t bet unless the odds are in his favor.

And here I am—career in limbo, future uncertain. Except for one thing.

I wantus.I want to fight for us.

But how do I convince him, after always pushing him away? How do we get to a place where we can trust each other and know we’re both in this for the long haul? A hundred percent.

I sift through the puzzle, turning it over in my mind.

Until…wait a second!

A zing of pure hope splices through my bones, filling my belly with a swirling warmth.

There could be an answer.

An answer written in the language that Tuck understands intimately. A contract that spells out obligations, stakes, and commitment.

Such a thingdoesexist.

Of course, it does.

A signed document with a promise of forever—

Marriage.

Chapter 40

Tuck

Something’s different about her.

I can’t pinpoint it, but I know.

Mia’s wedding dress is practically in the bag—yet still, no mention of coming back to the city.

She’s edgy. Restless.

This is it. This is when she tells me, once again, that I’m delusional. That we can’t be what I want. That it won’t work.

A lead weight settles in my gut as I brace for the inevitable. Because something tells me this time…she’s never coming back.

First, she starts with her finances—how the New York lifestyle she’s grown accustomed to just isn’t in the budget right now. Then it’s some ramble about dying dahlias and migrating birds. Seriously? What’s next? Mars in retrograde? A black cat crossing her path? Any excuse to shut us down.

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